In the October 2017 issue of Social Education, the journal of the National Council for the Social Studies, our & "Sources and Strategies" article features two manuscript documents from individuals with very different responses to the armistice that ended the major fighting of World War I.
During the last week of September, a number of organizations observe Banned Books Week, an annual celebration of the freedom to read. As the Library of Congress is currently commemorating the hundredth anniversary of U.S. involvement in World War I, this is an opportunity to explore a wave of book burnings in American towns that took place during the war.
Teachers can help their students explore these moments and many more using the Library's newest primary source set, World War I. This set brings together primary sources that document a war that was like no other, and that brought about tremendous political, social, and technological changes.
As part of our commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of U.S. involvement in World War I, the Library has launched a new World War I topic page bringing together the richest resources in our collections, along with information about special events and upcoming programs.
How can you share your response to a major world event? In the 19th and early 20th centuries, you might have put your thoughts down in a poem and sent it to a newspaper. The 1918 entry of the United States into World War I triggered an especially dramatic outpouring of these personal responses in verse.
A new primary source set from the Library of Congress, “The Spanish-American War: The United States Becomes a World Power,” brings teachers the artifacts and documents that tell these stories and more.
Whether students are interested in examining a historic revolution, exploring social reactions to a particular event or idea, research the origins of a reform movement, or identify a topic that includes elements of all three Rs, the Library of Congress has online resources to support their 2025 National History Day project.
